Acknowledging comments on caches

[hoosier guy]

I was reading the thread about people leaving short or pasted log entries and had a thought on the inverse. In the short time I have been caching I have run across 5 or 6 caches that needed attention or there was some information I felt the CO needed to know. I have emailed them this information to prevent giving out any spoilers. I have recieved only one email in return acknowledging that I had taken extra time to help them maintain a cache.

 

If someone sends you some info on a cache in an effort to help you, take the 7.5 seconds it takes to type thanks and hit return. It is only polite.

Edited March 11, 2010 by hoosier guy

[+bittsen]

I was reading the thread about people leaving short or pasted log entries and had a thought on the inverse. In the short time I have been caching I have run across 5 or 6 caches that needed attention or there was some information I felt the CO needed to know. I have emailed them this information to prevent giving out any spoilers. I have recieved only one email in return acknowledging that I had taken extra time to help them maintain a cache.

 

If someone sends you some info on a cache in an effort to help you, take the 7.5 seconds it takes to type thanks and hit return. It is only polite.

I agree.

[+Ike 13]

I always reply to webmails from fellow cachers. If someone posts a serious DNF I usually check on the cache within a week. Sadly not all CO's are this involved or on the ball. That's life

[AZcachemeister]

YUP!

I ALWAYS reply (if the sender included his addy) to all the confirmation emails for my one virtual and adopted EarthCaches.

 

It just seems like the respectful thing to do.

[knowschad]

Not only do I respond to emails like that, but I don't know an active cacher that would not. I suspect that "active cacher" may be the keyword, though. Did you check to see when the last time was that they were online?

[+t4e]

personally i believe in helping each other

i reply to all emails, good or bad

 

the most recent one was a bad one, someone put out a series of 14 caches that you have to find and collect the info from in order to get the coordinates for the final, the 15th

 

as we were planning on going in that area i looked at the series and only seen 7 out of the 14 plus the final

so i posted a note suggesting that it would be nice to have links to all 14 caches on the listing of the final

 

i thought i was being helpful to a new cacher, instead next thing i know i get an e-mail from the CO that my comment was rude, and as a PM i should know how the system works, as if only a PM would know that may be a delay in publishing caches

 

while the whole tone of the email was borderline abusive, i chose to still reply with a positive take on it and suggest that they should at least post a note on the final that the rest of the caches are in the process of being published

 

that is just to show that while most CO appreciate the heads up, some get all bent out of shape and misinterpret any sort of communication

 

however, one bad apple will not stop me in the future from trying to be helpful

[+Chrysalides]

I agree, and I notice more than half of those I contact by email will acknowledge. For some, I guess they might be overwhelmed by the volume of Groundspeak email volume and miss some emails.

[+Chrysalides]

I ALWAYS reply (if the sender included his addy) to all the confirmation emails for my one virtual and adopted EarthCaches.

Which reminds me - I've occasionally responded to noreply@geocaching.com. So if you did not get an acknowledgment, and if you hide your email, that could be the reason.

[+StarBrand]

If I help out in any way and send an email - I don't require a 'thank you'. Its still the right thing to do.

[+sbell111]

I reply to most emails that I receive. There are many, however, that I choose not to reply to. The very fact that someone has chosen to send me an email does not require me to send them one in return. Frankly, I find demands that one must reply to emails received to be rather rude.

[hoosier guy]

If I help out in any way and send an email - I don't require a 'thank you'. Its still the right thing to do.

 

Helping is the right thing to do, yes indeed. Saying thanks is also the right thing to do and it is not about requiring a "thanks"email. Because I think we loose something as a species when we don't observe the social graces and do not expect them from others.

 

There could be an email address problem, but I would hope CO would put a correct email in their profiles. I do include my email address so that I can be contacted should the CO want more info.

[+Gitchee-Gummee]

Not only is it friendly and polite, it helps the game we play. I agree.

-----------------

i thought i was being helpful to a new cacher, instead next thing i know i get an e-mail from the CO that my comment was rude, and as a PM i should know how the system works, as if only a PM would know that may be a delay in publishing caches

 

This was interesting, as the CO could have had all the caches published at the same time. At least within a reasonable time-frame. And he/she chides you for not knowing "how the system works".

This sounds as though the CO was (tediously) doing the submissions individually, rather than holding and activating for publish in one shot (an email to the reviewer also helps).

[hoosier guy]

I reply to most emails that I receive. There are many, however, that I choose not to reply to. The very fact that someone has chosen to send me an email does not require me to send them one in return. Frankly, I find demands that one must reply to emails received to be rather rude.

 

No one has "demanded" anything. I merely suggested observing common courtesy would be nice. Your 0 to 60 response however....

[+briansnat]

YUP!

I ALWAYS reply (if the sender included his addy) to all the confirmation emails for my one virtual and adopted EarthCaches.

 

It just seems like the respectful thing to do.

 

Same here. That is if they include their e-mail addr. If they don't I assume they didn't want a reply and don't bother.

[hoosier guy]

When you go to someone's profile and hit "send message" will they get my email since I clicked that it be displayed on my profile? I get a copy of the message I sent in my inbox. Do I need to add my email in a message?

 

To you guys who have posted that you do reply to messages I salute you. Seems everyone complains about how mean the world has become. Your example might help make it a bit nicer of a place.

[+thedeadpirate]

I ALWAYS reply (if the sender included his addy) to all the confirmation emails for my one virtual and adopted EarthCaches.

Which reminds me - I've occasionally responded to noreply@geocaching.com. So if you did not get an acknowledgment, and if you hide your email, that could be the reason.

 

That's kind of important to take note of.

 

If you do send an email and expect a reply, make sure the box that says "I want to send my email address along with this message" is checked.

[hoosier guy]

Thanks GB! that is what I needed to know.

Edited March 12, 2010 by hoosier guy

[+sbell111]

I reply to most emails that I receive. There are many, however, that I choose not to reply to. The very fact that someone has chosen to send me an email does not require me to send them one in return. Frankly, I find demands that one must reply to emails received to be rather rude.

 

No one has "demanded" anything. I merely suggested observing common courtesy would be nice. Your 0 to 60 response however....

What the heck is a "0 to 60 response"???

 

BTW, the OP made a demand when he posted this:

If someone sends you some info on a cache in an effort to help you, take the 7.5 seconds it takes to type thanks and hit return. It is only polite.

Edited March 12, 2010 by sbell111

[hoosier guy]

I reply to most emails that I receive. There are many, however, that I choose not to reply to. The very fact that someone has chosen to send me an email does not require me to send them one in return. Frankly, I find demands that one must reply to emails received to be rather rude.

 

No one has "demanded" anything. I merely suggested observing common courtesy would be nice. Your 0 to 60 response however....

What the heck is a "0 to 60 response"???

 

BTW, the OP made a demand when he posted this:

If someone sends you some info on a cache in an effort to help you, take the 7.5 seconds it takes to type thanks and hit return. It is only polite.

 

If that is what you base your case for a "demand" on then obviously the threshold of what constitutes a demand is has been lowered of late. A 0-60 response is when one responds to a civil statement not addressed to them in a pugnacious manner.

[+ras_oscar]

I usually include general maintenance suggestions in my online log unless it would require posting a spoiler. In that case I PM the CO. Seldom receive a reply and I'm not offended at all.

[+chrisandjanet]

While I certainly applaud the sentiment of replying with a Thank You, I do see another side to the issue. I work for a large corporation where it's not uncommon to get 50 to 100 emails per day, of which about 1% (gut feeling, not hard data) actually require some sort of response from me. It is part of the culture (and greatly appreciated by some) NOT to reply with a Thank You email for little things, to avoid to adding to the recipient's inbox clutter.

 

Just sayin'.

[hoosier guy]

Obviously there are differing opinions and that is ok. As for me I think that allowing small acts of kindness to slip away is sad.

Edited March 12, 2010 by hoosier guy

[ao318]

I also reply to all emails sent to me. I have one cache that is on a seasonal island and one finder went to look for it. They posted a note about trash and such, I thought, near the cache. I went out the next day with garbage bags in hand and cleaned up everything I could.

 

It seemed that the trash was on the way to the cache location but the cache site itself was fine. I posted a maintenance performed log and the cacher that place the initial note sent me an email thanking me for cleaning up the area. I replied back to them thanking them for notifying me of the problem.

 

We all have to work together to make this an enjoyable game for everyone and their families to enjoy. This is just a part of being a "cache owner".

[+Original A1]

I usually reply to e-mails from cachers, but sometimes it can take a while or slip through the net because Real Life gets in the way, or I've just had so many that I've overlooked the response. Most of the time, I respond with my e-mail address in the note, but even if I don't, EVERY cacher can send an e-mail to others via GC.com, whether or not they choose to add the visible address. If someone contacts me without revealing their address, then I guess that's more of a hint that they might not expect a response, especially if I've provided my e-mail address in the first place.

 

One area I find slightly more frustrating is when I log an earthcache where I've e-mailed the answer to the CO. The first one I did, I didn't realise that I should have posted a note before having it approved, but then waited and waited in vain for an answer and after a couple of months, eventually just logged it as a find. The same happened this week but as I've now seen the CO hasn't logged in for a few weeks and others have clocked it as a find since he/she was last on, I have now done the same. The worst that can happen is that he/she decides I don't meet the criteria and deletes the log, I suppose...

 

[+sbell111]

I usually reply to e-mails from cachers, but sometimes it can take a while or slip through the net because Real Life gets in the way, or I've just had so many that I've overlooked the response. Most of the time, I respond with my e-mail address in the note, but even if I don't, EVERY cacher can send an e-mail to others via GC.com, whether or not they choose to add the visible address. If someone contacts me without revealing their address, then I guess that's more of a hint that they might not expect a response, especially if I've provided my e-mail address in the first place.

 

One area I find slightly more frustrating is when I log an earthcache where I've e-mailed the answer to the CO. The first one I did, I didn't realise that I should have posted a note before having it approved, but then waited and waited in vain for an answer and after a couple of months, eventually just logged it as a find. The same happened this week but as I've now seen the CO hasn't logged in for a few weeks and others have clocked it as a find since he/she was last on, I have now done the same. The worst that can happen is that he/she decides I don't meet the criteria and deletes the log, I suppose...

 

Regarding earthcaches and virts, I generally just email my answer and then go ahead and log the find. The only time that I would actually wait for a response is if I was unsure that I was correct. After a few days of waiting, I would log those, also.

[GermanSailor]

If someone sends you some info on a cache in an effort to help you, take the 7.5 seconds it takes to type thanks and hit return. It is only polite.

Of course! Feedback is very important, I always answer to friendly emails.

 

GermanSailor

[hoosier guy]

If someone sends you some info on a cache in an effort to help you, take the 7.5 seconds it takes to type thanks and hit return. It is only polite.

Of course! Feedback is very important, I always answer to friendly emails.

 

GermanSailor

 

Exactly! To me part of the game is meeting new people (in person & over the web) who share an interest. Good point about the "friendly emails" GS! We ALL should try to keep things civil and friendly!

[+sbell111]

If someone sends you some info on a cache in an effort to help you, take the 7.5 seconds it takes to type thanks and hit return. It is only polite.

Of course! Feedback is very important, I always answer to friendly emails.

 

GermanSailor

 

Exactly! To me part of the game is meeting new people (in person & over the web) who share an interest. Good point about the "friendly emails" GS! We ALL should try to keep things civil and friendly!

To me, the game is about getting outside and finding some caches.

 

Regarding your original argument, I may not want you to have my email address. Therefore, it isn't as simple as hitting reply. I would have to sign into GC.com, go to your profile page, click on 'send email' (or whatever that button is called), compose my message, and then hit send.

 

That actually becomes quite a bit of work just to please those people who would feel offended if they don't receive an email that acknowledges the fact that they sent me an unsolicited email.

[+GeoGeeBee]

 

Regarding your original argument, I may not want you to have my email address. Therefore, it isn't as simple as hitting reply. I would have to sign into GC.com, go to your profile page, click on 'send email' (or whatever that button is called), compose my message, and then hit send.

 

That actually becomes quite a bit of work just to please those people who would feel offended if they don't receive an email that acknowledges the fact that they sent me an unsolicited email.

 

A lot of people seem to think that "unsolicited email" is eeeevuuul. I've never understood why. I've asked a number of people to explain it, but their explanations make no sense to me.

 

And why would you not want anyone to have your email address? If a particular someone becomes a pest, it's easy enough to add them to a spam filter.

 

My email address is all over the internet. I don't have any problems. I probably get a lot of spam, but since I never see any of it, that's no big deal. It's not like an "unsolicited email" is any big intrusion.

[hoosier guy]

"Regarding your original argument, I may not want you to have my email address. Therefore, it isn't as simple as hitting reply. I would have to sign into GC.com, go to your profile page, click on 'send email' (or whatever that button is called), compose my message, and then hit send. That actually becomes quite a bit of work just to please those people who would feel offended if they don't receive an email that acknowledges the fact that they sent me an unsolicited email."

 

Yes I can see how the energy expended there is approximately equal to that used during a half marathon. Plus it is not about, once again, your emailer being offended. It is about returning good for good. Since it seems we shall not agree on this issue I shall wish you well and make it a point not to bother you with any cache information.

[+Geo Fan]

You get what you give. I have found most cachers to be responsive and only a couple of cachers who aare unresponsive. One thing for sure is to give people ample time to respond, and don't assume that they received your first email. Keep it nice and you are more likely to get a response and if you don't, just move on because it is not worth it. For all you know the other cacher may have become incapacitated.

[+t4e]

I ALWAYS reply (if the sender included his addy) to all the confirmation emails for my one virtual and adopted EarthCaches.

Which reminds me - I've occasionally responded to noreply@geocaching.com. So if you did not get an acknowledgment, and if you hide your email, that could be the reason.

 

That's kind of important to take note of.

 

If you do send an email and expect a reply, make sure the box that says "I want to send my email address along with this message" is checked.

 

that is totally not true and necessary...communication is possible without making your email public

 

the email comes with a link to the sender's profile, if the message comes from the "noreply@geocaching.com" just go to their profile and reply to them from there

[+thedeadpirate]

I ALWAYS reply (if the sender included his addy) to all the confirmation emails for my one virtual and adopted EarthCaches.

Which reminds me - I've occasionally responded to noreply@geocaching.com. So if you did not get an acknowledgment, and if you hide your email, that could be the reason.

 

That's kind of important to take note of.

 

If you do send an email and expect a reply, make sure the box that says "I want to send my email address along with this message" is checked.

 

that is totally not true and necessary...communication is possible without making your email public

 

the email comes with a link to the sender's profile, if the message comes from the "noreply@geocaching.com" just go to their profile and reply to them from there

 

And if the sender is not expecting a reply and the receiver chooses to go through the extra trouble, then going through the profile is fine.

 

But if you "expect" a reply, then you should make sure your email address is sent along with your message. Otherwise, don't get upset if someone does not go through the extra few steps to reply to you or accidently replies to noreply@geocaching.com instead.

 

That's all I was saying.

 

** edited to add the bit in italics.

Edited March 12, 2010 by GeoBain

[+briansnat]

 

Regarding your original argument, I may not want you to have my email address. Therefore, it isn't as simple as hitting reply. I would have to sign into GC.com, go to your profile page, click on 'send email' (or whatever that button is called), compose my message, and then hit send.

 

That actually becomes quite a bit of work just to please those people who would feel offended if they don't receive an email that acknowledges the fact that they sent me an unsolicited email.

 

A lot of people seem to think that "unsolicited email" is eeeevuuul. I've never understood why. I've asked a number of people to explain it, but their explanations make no sense to me.

 

And why would you not want anyone to have your email address? If a particular someone becomes a pest, it's easy enough to add them to a spam filter.

 

My email address is all over the internet. I don't have any problems. I probably get a lot of spam, but since I never see any of it, that's no big deal. It's not like an "unsolicited email" is any big intrusion.

 

I get unsolicited e-mail all the time and I love it. Since my email address is visible on several hiking related sites and I have a somewhat high profile in these forums, I frequently get e-mails from total strangers asking about places to hike or backpack, gear advice, geocaching advice, etc.

 

The opportunity to help people enjoy the outdoors and geocaching is something I cherish and is worth some spam. The spam is usually easy enough to identify and ignore. My main concern is that sometimes these e-mails from strangers look a bit like spam and I'm afraid sometimes I might delete some unread.

 

That said, if the e-mail comes with a "do not reply" address I'm not going to take the extra time to log onto this (or whatever website) and contact the person through the site. If he is truly interested in a response he can make things easy for me and provide his e-mail address.

[+simpjkee]

I always reply to e-mails I recieve. Additionally, if someone posts a good log on one of my caches, I'll sometimes send them an e-mail just to say "thanks for the log, I enjoyed reading it" or something like that.

 

I send a lot of emails to people too and, yeah, a simple reply even just to say "I read it" is not required, but greatly appreciated.

 

 

On top of that, there are a couple cachers in my area who will email me after I write a good log for them to comment. When I go to their caches I'll write them a good log because I know they read it.

Edited March 15, 2010 by simpjkee

[+narcissa]

I'd rather *not* have people reply to my email if all they have to say is "thanks." I get enough email as it is.

 

If someone emails me to tell me about a problem with my cache, I acknowledge that email by fixing the cache and posting a maintenance log. I only write back personally if there's a reason.

 

If someone's determined to think of me as rude because I don't conform to their expectations, that's not really my problem. I'm not the one wasting energy feeling slighted about nothing.

[+Sioneva]

<snip>

 

One area I find slightly more frustrating is when I log an earthcache where I've e-mailed the answer to the CO. The first one I did, I didn't realise that I should have posted a note before having it approved, but then waited and waited in vain for an answer and after a couple of months, eventually just logged it as a find. The same happened this week but as I've now seen the CO hasn't logged in for a few weeks and others have clocked it as a find since he/she was last on, I have now done the same. The worst that can happen is that he/she decides I don't meet the criteria and deletes the log, I suppose...

 

 

I'll be the first to admit that I rarely email other cachers, even those who complete my earthcaches. Not out of a desire to be rude, I'm just not the most outgoing person that way - just ask my family! Usually, I assume that if they send in the correct answers, they would know they're free to log it without having to wait for me to email back. Maybe I should change the cache pages to reflect that, to avoid any confusion - I honestly never really thought about it before.

[hoosier guy]

I'd rather *not* have people reply to my email if all they have to say is "thanks." I get enough email as it is.

 

If someone emails me to tell me about a problem with my cache, I acknowledge that email by fixing the cache and posting a maintenance log. I only write back personally if there's a reason.

 

If someone's determined to think of me as rude because I don't conform to their expectations, that's not really my problem. I'm not the one wasting energy feeling slighted about nothing.

 

We all make our own choices on how we deal with others.

[+narcissa]

I'd rather *not* have people reply to my email if all they have to say is "thanks." I get enough email as it is.

 

If someone emails me to tell me about a problem with my cache, I acknowledge that email by fixing the cache and posting a maintenance log. I only write back personally if there's a reason.

 

If someone's determined to think of me as rude because I don't conform to their expectations, that's not really my problem. I'm not the one wasting energy feeling slighted about nothing.

 

We all make our own choices on how we deal with others.

 

Indeed. Some of us choose to make posts telling others how to behave, some of us don't.

[hoosier guy]

I'd rather *not* have people reply to my email if all they have to say is "thanks." I get enough email as it is.

 

If someone emails me to tell me about a problem with my cache, I acknowledge that email by fixing the cache and posting a maintenance log. I only write back personally if there's a reason.

 

If someone's determined to think of me as rude because I don't conform to their expectations, that's not really my problem. I'm not the one wasting energy feeling slighted about nothing.

 

We all make our own choices on how we deal with others.

 

Indeed. Some of us choose to make posts telling others how to behave, some of us don't.

 

Some of us also refuse to be drawn into silly arguments and instead wish others a good evening.

[+narcissa]

If your goal is to avoid arguments, perhaps you'd do well to consider not making public posts demanding that everybody on the site conform to your personal expectations. Just a suggestion.

[+simpjkee]

If your goal is to avoid arguments, perhaps you'd do well to consider not making public posts demanding that everybody on the site conform to your personal expectations. Just a suggestion.

 

It was hardly a demand. He's giving a suggestion or even asking a favor based on his experience.

 

Why you so bitter, narcissa?

[+sbell111]

I'd rather *not* have people reply to my email if all they have to say is "thanks." I get enough email as it is.

 

If someone emails me to tell me about a problem with my cache, I acknowledge that email by fixing the cache and posting a maintenance log. I only write back personally if there's a reason.

 

If someone's determined to think of me as rude because I don't conform to their expectations, that's not really my problem. I'm not the one wasting energy feeling slighted about nothing.

 

We all make our own choices on how we deal with others.

 

Indeed. Some of us choose to make posts telling others how to behave, some of us don't.

 

Some of us also refuse to be drawn into silly arguments and instead wish others a good evening.

You messed up the quotes and ended up telling yourself off pretty good.

[+sbell111]

If your goal is to avoid arguments, perhaps you'd do well to consider not making public posts demanding that everybody on the site conform to your personal expectations. Just a suggestion.

 

It was hardly a demand. He's giving a suggestion or even asking a favor based on his experience.

 

Why you so bitter, narcissa?

It's written like a demand and he has gone out of his way to insult those who disagreed with him.

If someone sends you some info on a cache in an effort to help you, take the 7.5 seconds it takes to type thanks and hit return.

[+sbell111]

Obviously there are differing opinions and that is ok. As for me I think that allowing small acts of kindness to slip away is sad.

If you don't want these 'small acts of kindness' to slip away, all you have to do is continue to make 'small acts of kindness'. Continue sending email responses to every unsolicited email that you receive, if you think that it's the right thing to do. However, when you argue that everyone who disagrees with you is rude and you make subtle (and not so subtle) attempts at putting them down, you are not perpetuating 'kindness'. You are actually being quite rude.

[+simpjkee]

Wowzers. I guess I read his post differently than you two.

[hoosier guy]

Sbell & Narcissa I am sorry if you take offense at a suggestion that we all be polite to one another. Looking back I do not see where I have demanded anything nor have I put anyone down, although the temptation to respond in a negative manner to your taunting did crop up. In an effort to practice what I preach I only wished you well and did not pour gas on the fire. Please stop reading malice into a message when it is not there. That is not a healthy way to live.

[+sbell111]

Sbell & Narcissa I am sorry if you take offense at a suggestion that we all be polite to one another. Looking back I do not see where I have demanded anything nor have I put anyone down, although the temptation to respond in a negative manner to your taunting did crop up. In an effort to practice what I preach I only wished you well and did not pour gas on the fire. Please stop reading malice into a message when it is not there. That is not a healthy way to live.

Here's the takeaway: While you believe that it is impolite not to reply to every email you receive, others disagree. Also, please lose the lame half-concealed insults. I find it very telling that even in a post where you state that you will not respond in a negative manner, you do so.

Edited March 15, 2010 by sbell111

[hoosier guy]

Sbell & Narcissa I am sorry if you take offense at a suggestion that we all be polite to one another. Looking back I do not see where I have demanded anything nor have I put anyone down, although the temptation to respond in a negative manner to your taunting did crop up. In an effort to practice what I preach I only wished you well and did not pour gas on the fire. Please stop reading malice into a message when it is not there. That is not a healthy way to live.

Here's the takeaway: While you believe that it is impolite not to reply to every email you receive, others disagree. Also, please lose the lame half-concealed insults. I find it very telling that even in a post where you state that you will not respond in a negative manner, you do so.

 

I merely stated the fact that the effort to pick a fight with me was becoming irritating, but I chose not to respond in kind. While you may read an insult into this there is none intended. Take a moment to ask yourself if you are only finding ill will because you are looking for it.

 

Now, since we are way off any geocaching topic and further banter does no one any good I choose to end this. Peace to you.

[+sbell111]

Sbell & Narcissa I am sorry if you take offense at a suggestion that we all be polite to one another. Looking back I do not see where I have demanded anything nor have I put anyone down, although the temptation to respond in a negative manner to your taunting did crop up. In an effort to practice what I preach I only wished you well and did not pour gas on the fire. Please stop reading malice into a message when it is not there. That is not a healthy way to live.

Here's the takeaway: While you believe that it is impolite not to reply to every email you receive, others disagree. Also, please lose the lame half-concealed insults. I find it very telling that even in a post where you state that you will not respond in a negative manner, you do so.

 

I merely stated the fact that the effort to pick a fight with me was becoming irritating, but I chose not to respond in kind. While you may read an insult into this there is none intended. Take a moment to ask yourself if you are only finding ill will because you are looking for it.

 

Now, since we are way off any geocaching topic and further banter does no one any good I choose to end this. Peace to you.

Please stop reading malice into a message when it is not there. That is not a healthy way to live. I am sorry if you take offense at a suggestion that we all be polite to one another.